Great article from Prymface on being a teenage parent

Great article on the Telegraph website today from Prymface on the realities of being a teenage parent.

You can read the article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/9582147/Teenage-mums-the-real-story.html

Relationships and sex education: a drop of 25% in teenage pregnancy rates over 10 years, that's progress

There was an article published in the Daily Mail at the weekend stating that sex education has had little impact on teenage pregnancy rates over the past 40 years.

In fact the statistics confirm what those of us who work in sexual health or with young people already know that teenagers are less likely to get pregnant now than they were 40 years ago, and looking at the statistics from 1998 when the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy was launched there is a clear decline in rates. Between 1998 and 2010, the conception rate for under 16s has fallen by 22%, and the rate for under 18s has fallen by 25%.

The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy focused on and highlighted the good work being done, and means that we are clear about what works to improve young people's sexual health and wellbeing; improving access to sexual health services, an open and accepting attitude toward teenage sexuality; good quality sex and relationships education in school and the community; and supporting parents to talk to their children about relationships.

We know how to reduce rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and we need to get on with making that happen consistently across the UK.

You can read Brook’s factsheet on the teenage pregnancy rates online here.

Teenage Pregnancy - what will the cuts mean?

Last week the Office National Statistics showed a reduction in teenage pregnancy rates for 2009. It was reported widely in publications from the British Medical Journal through to the Sunday Sun. Yes it is February 2011, and yes it was the data for 2009.

This timelag is really important to register because it will be 2012 before we get the teenage pregnancy data for 2010, and 2013 before we get the data for this year - 2011.

This data timelag means we won't have timely evidence of the devastating impact that savage cuts to young people's sexual health services, diminished support to for sex and relationships education alongside high youth unemployment will have on teenage pregnancy rates. If Local Authorities and the NHS do not prioritise teenage pregnancy and young people's sexual health the work force will be obliterated, the services available to them diminished and as a consequence teenage pregnancy rates will go up.

Footnote: I believe it is important to reduce teenage pregnancy and I know young people are very good parents with the right support, and support for young parents must not be compromised as a result of the cuts either.

Tough choices or simple math?

Today, the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group, of which I am a member, publishes its final report. In it we warn that teenage pregnancy rates will start to rise again without strong national leadership, continued investment in contraceptive services and renewed urgency behind improving sex and relationships education.

Yes there are some genuinely tough choices to make about spending, but when it comes to preventing teenage pregnancy, it is a matter of simple math. As the TP IAG states in the report, if we disinvest (cut) contraceptive services now, it will cost councils, the NHS and the Treasury more. And quite simply it isn't a cut now, pay later deal.

So I recommend those councils and PCTs that are drawing up plans to cut services take heed of the advice from TP IAG and think hard and think again.

Here is a link to the BBC coverage of the TP IAG report

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11981626

TP IAG has done some really important work over the last decade and whilst this group is coming to an end, as this report states, the policy focus on teenage pregnancy and parenthood must not for at least two reasons;

young people need education and support so they can both enjoy and take responsibility for the sex they have and use contraception effectively

those who become young parents need really high quality support so they can be brilliant

Teenage Conception Statistics published by ONS

Yesterday the Office National Statistics published their conception statistics for Quarter 3 of 2009. The statistics are really starting to show the impact of sustained activity and resource to educate young people about relationships, sex and contraception, and provide them with the support to make active choices about sex and pregnancy.

· The rate of under-18 conceptions was 36.3 per 1000 girls aged 15-17 – 6.2% lower than the rate of 38.7 for third quarter 2008. For under-18 conceptions, the rolling quarterly average continues to fall and has now fallen over the last eight quarters. The rolling quarterly average for under-18 conceptions is at its lowest rate since quarterly data collection.

· The rate of under-16 conceptions was 7.0 per 1000 girls aged 13-15 – 7.9% lower than the rate of 7.6 for third quarter 2008.

This welcome news comes hot on the heels of an article in Children and Young People Now in which Gill Frances, Chair of the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy, whose work ends in December, warns that without strong national leadership, and continued investment at the local level teenage pregnancy rates will rise. The link to the article is here www.cypnow.co.uk/news/1042283/Teenage-pregnancy-services-risk-funding-diverted/

A day to be pleased with

Today the Office for National Statistics released the latest teenage pregnancy data for 2008 and Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, announced the continuation of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in England.

Since 1998 teenage pregnancy rates for under 18s have reduced by 13.3% to 40.4 per 1,000 for 2008. This is good news and we now need to continue doing what we know works; improving access to sexual health services, good quality sex and relationships education in school and the community and supporting parents to talk to their children about relationships.

I really welcome the refresh of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy and the renewed commitment to young people’s sexual health. There is some excellent work taking place in some areas and what we need to do now is to learn from those areas who have seen the biggest decreases and make that excellent work the standard for all teenage pregnancy programmes.

Yesterday the Children, Schools and Families Bill which includes making Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education statutory completed its report stage and third reading in the House of Commons.

We eagerly await its progress through the House of Lords and the Bill receiving Royal Assent before it becomes law. Making PSHE Education statutory will provide a clear framework and ensure that it will be inclusive of every child and young person combining legal/civil rights, health, and cultural and religious perspectives.

Every day at Brook we see young people whose education about relationships and sex has not been good enough. For too long young people have been saying that the sex education they receive is too little, too late and too biological because schools are only required to teach what is in the science curriculum. Statutory PSHE will mean that all children and young people will receive the education and information they are entitled to.

Brook

Making a difference

I have been in Jersey and Bristol this week meeting staff, trustees and partners to discuss Brook’s strategic framework (http://www.brook.org.uk/) and our organisational design and governance structure review (www.brook.org.uk/review)

Three things have stuck in my mind;

First the creativity, commitment and boldness of staff in meeting the needs of young people – recognising the resilience and the vulnerability of young people and demonstrating their commitment to helping young people understand their rights and responsibilities in relation to sex and sexuality.

Second, Brook in Jersey was set up over 15 years ago in response to their high teenage pregnancy rates amongst young people under 16. The Chief Medical Officer report the year before Brook was set up reported over 300 pregnancies amongst young people under 16. This year the CMO reported less than 5 teenage pregnancies in the same age group. The trustees and staff confidently know that in many of the schools in Jersey the absolute majority of young people know what Brook does, what we offer in terms of education, counselling and support, and clinical services, and most importantly they trust Brook to provide a confidential service.

Finally at Brook in Bristol, where the teenage pregnancy rate remains stubbornly high there is a really keen awareness of the importance of working effectively and creatively with both young men and young women. Yes access to and confidence in using contraception is an important part of the solution and central to success is a strong focus on gender, really focusing on improving respect and understanding between young men and young women so relationships are positive and equitable. Promoting gender equity is vital and remains one of the biggest challenges in ensuring positive sexual cultures amongst (young) people.

Excellent article on teenage pregnancy in England

Here is the link to an excellent article written by Polly Toynbee in the Guardian yesterday

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/17/alfie-new-labour

Sex and relationships education – the myth makers continue their work

I have been travelling around the country in the last week and I have heard again at least three times about the breakdown of morality amongst young people and that sex and relationships education is the cause.

So the myth makers continue their work - pronouncing that levels of sexual activity have gone up amongst young people, and that sex and relationships education is the reason behind this increase.

Their premise is that sex and relationships education has been around for over 40 years now, and this government has ploughed more money into this failed approach – failure confirmed apparently by our declining teenage pregnancy rates.

This is, of course, utter nonsense. We don’t have the evidence about levels of sexual activity, and the age of first sex remains broadly similar (the biggest decrease in age, was post war Britain). And sex and relationships education is still not universally established in schools or the community – 22,000 young people recently reported that their SRE is still not good enough.  This finding reinforces yet again what we have known for decades.

So join me in eradicating the myths and replace them with facts –

Sex and relationships education is still not universally established in schools – many children and young people get excellent sex and relationships education, and many more get poor, mediocre or just about good enough.

Teenage pregnancy rates are the lowest they have been for twenty years - areas that have strong programmes of sex and relationships education, coupled with good, visible young people’s contraceptive services and supported by an effective youth service continue to see the biggest decreases in teenage pregnancy rates.

If 25% of young people have sex before the age of 16, that means 75% do not – surely that is worth celebrating and acknowledging so we help create a social norm that supports young people in their choices about sex.

And anyway, seems to me many of the same myth makers who want to abolish sex and relationships education haven't spoken to many children and young people for a long time. Some of them also believe smacking children is a good idea and a parents right.

Some facts behind the statistics

There were stories in some of the press about increases in teenage conception rates in 2007. The claim that the rises are a result of failed attempts to reduce teenage conceptions through sex education and easy access to contraception.

The latest data shows that the slight increase is from pregnancies that have led to abortions, not teenage births, which shows these pregnancies were unintended and contraceptive services like Brook are needed even more than ever.

We also know the rise corresponds with tight NHS spending, when community contraceptive clinics were cut - a stark warning as we enter an economic downturn which will likely see a reduction in spending on public services over the coming years.

In December and January every year for the last five years there has been a peak in teenage conceptions. At this time clinics are closed and some young people will find it harder to get to services. It is important to let young people know this peak in conception rates, and to remind young people that if they are choose to have sex this Christmas, they must use contraception.

At the same time they must know when and where services including pharmacies are open over the festive period. It may sound obvious - but as service providers we sometimes forget the little things - my local shop has had a sign in the window telling me when they are closed, and when they are open for at least three weeks. If you run a service, have you done the same?

X factor final and articles in the news

There are two relevant articles in the papers today.  The News of the World interviews with a young mum who has won a Prince's Trust Young Educational Achiever award.  Her successes and her determination are justly rewarded.  She is quoted as saying 'it drives me mad knowing that girls purposely get pregnant just to scrounge benefits'.   There is no evidence that this is the case in the overwhelming majority of cases.  It is a myth that must be busted.

The second article in the Times which discusses the provision of contraception over the counter in pharmacists, helpfully reminded us that whilst the policy lens focuses on young people's sexual activity and teenage pregnancy, the majority of unintended pregnancies are amongst older women.  

And on a related tangent, I like many others enjoyed the X factor final.  I appreciate the genuine warmth and support which Simon Cowell demonstrates for young people - I like Simon's attitude to young people.  In the early rounds when Rachel who made the final 12 auditioned, reflecting on her audition, Simon said 'too many young people don't get a second chance in this country' - I agree with him entirely - and if you don't agree with me, just think would we allow 'mosquito' devices to disburse any other group in our society?   

When I was doing work on sex and relationships education in young offender institutes, I heard time and again, young people telling us that 'resettlement' was tough and they didn't get the support they need.  

I am really pleased Alexandra Burke won - her duet with Beyonce made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.  Public policy on teenage pregnancy emphasises the importance of raising aspirations, having goals and dreams for the future.  Alexandra told us many (many) times about the fact her dream had come true.  I just hope the X factor team have prepared her and her family for life in the public eye.  Some articles in the papers today, and I am sure there are many versions of the same story, written as truth, were evidence that it won't always be an easy ride.  I just hope those stories didn't take the edge off her moment.  

Teenage pregnancy myths

Barely a week goes by without a media story about teenage pregnancy so we recently commissioned an Ipsos MORI poll to find out the public’s perception of the teenage pregnancy rate amongst under-16s in England.

Shockingly we found that 95% of people over-estimated the rate and the same amount were unaware of the significant drop in this figure over the last ten years. Even more concerning was that young people themselves thought that the rate was particularly high. 23% of 15-24 year olds thought that the rate of under 16s getting pregnant each year was over 40% - it's actually less than 1%.

With so many stories in the media it’s not surprising that people believe teenage pregnancy to be much more common than it actually is. This is particularly confusing for young people who may well think that teenage pregnancy is normal. It also fuels the myth that teenage pregnancy is escalating and nothing can be done.

Significant reductions in teenage pregnancy in many areas around the country show that change is possible and we now know what works to help young people prevent early pregnancy – good quality sex and relationships education together with access to free and confidential sexual health services.

Nick Hornby - Slam - a brilliant book to read

I have just finished reading Nick Hornby's book Slam.  It is a brilliant book about families, relationships, sex and pregnancy that both young men and young women, their parents and carers and those of us working with young people can all enjoy, be touched by and learn from.   Go online and order it now!  

And remember if you are online shopping from many stores including amazon go through www.charityshoppersbrook.com and Brook receives a percentage at no extra cost to you.

teenage pregnancy, stupid women and bungy jumping on a condom elastic

On Teenage Pregnancy....official statistics in February showed Teenage pregnancy rates are declining. Good news. Even more good news to read today that the Improvement and Development Agency reports on Local Area Agreements show that the second most common priority for Local Authorities in England is reducing the under 18 conception rate.

On stupid women - this came into my inbox recently....
I have decided to do a bit of campaigning journalism and have set up a website and Downing Street e-petition about better access to emergency contraception morning after pill). If you are a journalist receiving this email, or a blogger, do please consider writing about this subject and linking to the petition.

Here is the link to the petition if you want to sign it:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/morningafterpill/

And here is the website that explains what it is I am doing and why:

www.womenarenotstupid.co.uk

Basically, at the moment if a woman wants emergency contraception she must get it herself at the time of needing it. Although in 2006 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society issued a statement saying that it is not against the advanced supply of emergency contraception in principle, in many instances women are being refused advance provision by pharmacists.

This means that a woman can't buy it in advance from pharmacies to keep in the bathroom cabinet in case a condom splits. Nor can someone else buy it for her unless they can convince the pharmacist that it is an exceptional situation such as a person being housebound. Being stuck at work or at home looking after children is not usually deemed a good enough reason. Mums cannot buy it for daughters. A woman's partner cannot buy it for her. Nor can her friend.

Many people including some pharmacists argue that this is because emergency contraception should not be used other than in an emergency and that they need to ask certain questions of women before they can take it. This suggests women are incapable of self-diagnosing - something we actually do every time we take a painkiller which, taken wrongly, could also harm us.

If you support this please pass this email onto your friends and contacts - the more people who sign the petition the more notice government will take and things might change. If you can do write to your MP about this too - there is a sample letter on the website that you can copy.

Finally on condom bungys...did you see the Metro on Tuesday - a South African guy used 18,500 out of date condoms tied together and bungy jumped from them without even checking them with sand bags first. A joker in my team thought I should do it to raise money for Brook - clearly they want me to give a bit more to my work!

Six things i have said a lot recently and need others to say them to.

I have found myself saying the following things a lot to young people we work with, journalists, friends, my partner, family, parents, carers and professional colleagues over the last month or so - please pass them on to others by making people aware of this blog or email me and I can send them to you.

1. Most young people under the age of 16 do not have sex and if we forget this we contribute to young people's belief that everyone else is doing it
2. Teenage pregnancy rates in the UK are the lowest they have been for over twenty years and nationally the rates are continuing to go down
3. Sexually transmitted infection rates are increasing at least in part because we are encouraging more young people to get tested - eight years or so ago when we were developing the national sexual health strategy for England we did predict rates would go up before we expected to see them coming down
4. Celebrity culture is only one aspect of our culture around sex, sexuality and relationships - we must not get overly distracted by this and our challenge is to keep our eye on the big picture to promote a culture that values young people's developing sense of identity and sexuality and respects their rights
5. There is no scientific evidence to support reducing the time limit for abortion and we must maintain the upper limit at 24 weeks
6. Not all young people receive good quality Personal, Social and Health Education in schools (this is the subject in which teaching about sex and relationships takes place).

Young people, pregnancy, punk and participation

Yesterday Brook launched its new evening and weekend sexual health services for young people in Stockton on Tees - a really exciting initiative funded by Stockton’s Teenage Pregnancy Partnership and the Stockton Renaissance and Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.

The launch was led by young people aged between 15 and 17 who had made a film about sex and sexual health for the event. They had also come up with ideas for a range of activities and entertainment, and got their friends involved (including an up and coming young punk band who covered songs by the Buzzcocks and the Clash). The energy and enthusiasm they all brought to the event was infectious and invaluable.

I listened to two of the young people talking to each other: 'just been talking to her [nodded head towards a woman on other side of the room] for ages. She was really interested in what I had to say about sexual health.' She beamed as she spoke - clearly pleased that someone had listened.

The same two young women were also part of a group interviewed by their local radio station, and did a great job of explaining succinctly to the reporter why young people in Stockton needed these new services. ‘We don’t want to go somewhere where you might bump into your mum or your friend’s mum’, explained one, ‘we need somewhere just for young people’. ‘Teenage pregnancy is really common round here’, explained her male friend, and another proudly told the reporter she had just done a chlamydia test, explaining why it was important that other young people did the same.

Later I spoke to them and asked if they had enjoyed the afternoon. They had - the best thing, they told me, was giving their views and being listened to by adults, and they were really pleased they might make a difference for other young people. So easy to do, so important and yet still so many young people are not involved in decision making and service development.

Do we really think we can get services and education right without seeking the ideas and help of those young people we are trying to support?